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Lets make this auto or truck related (sort of ) when the septic tank malfunctions(hope it didnt ruin the drainfield ) the heavy pumper truck will usually mire up or cut ruts in your yard if its soft,plus the slop from the hoses that drips around.
The minimum lot size for a house with septic and well (new construction ) is 1.87 acres,supposedly enough for the required separation between well and septic system,if you chose to build on a difficult site (for a view usually) or the ground wont perk,it costs about 25K for an "engineered system,well costs usually 20K (if the water tests good,the well run about 700 feet deep around here usually(really costs to pull a pump ,so town sewer and water are not a bad deal if you can get them .(water systems usually use gravity mains of course dependent on electricity to fill reservoirs.
Requirements for septic systems will vary depending on your locale. No way would a typical lot around here meet the 1.87 acre size. Most lake lots with septic are in the 12,000 square foot variety or less and they have drain fields, for better or worse. Of course the trend is to convert them to a shared waste system but thatās a slow and expensive sell.
I have had to drive over the leech field, and never had a problem at the cabins, we get it pumped out every 6 to 10 years, and that has not rised any flags with the honey wagon operators, 2 years ago we had it done, and they were like it was time, but not overdue. Our well is 20 years old now, canāt imagine having any issues for the next 20 years.
At our house we get a sprinkling credit in the summer, as the extra water is assumed not to have to get treated as sewage.
Friends with covenants, no puckup trucks in drive or on street, grass cutting allowed 9 to 4 on Mon - Fri only.
Crazy. I imagine 1.87 acres to be enough for 6-8 houses in a new development. Chances are they would have a common septic system and drain field, with all the attendant maintenance issues and costs.
Nope, city water and sewer for me.
Crazy. I imagine 1.87 acres to be enough for 6-8 houses in a new development.
8 houses on less than 2 acres?? Sounds like cluster developments.Have nothing against them and they make sense in a number of ways. I just prefer more separation from my neighbors and the extra room. Place I had in WI had 5 acre minimum for the town. Private well/septic w/oil heat. Right before I moved, the 500 acre farm land behind me was sold and developed as a cluster w/ <1/4 acre lots. Glad I got out of dodge before construction began.
Bought house out east in MA. The realtor chuckled when I said I wanted an acre minimum. They list lot sizes in ft2. Found a place w/1.6 acres close to the city but country atmosphere.
Now in NH, back to 5 acre lots in the development where I am located, I have 10+ acres. Private well/septic w/ oil and propane. I am comfortable working on all of the systems on my property including septic. They last a LONG time if properly cared forā¦
Whoa. There are 43,500 square feet per acre. In my small town rural southern Minnesota location, new city lots are somewhere around 85x120 or about 10,000 square feet. The developer says (or used to say-he just died) that is the best size for folks to be able to build what they want and take care of the yard. How does one even mow 430,000 square feet every week? The nature center is experimenting with using goats to control the grass.
Iāve owned houses on lots ranging from 6600 sq. ft. to 15,000 sq. ft. We were lucky to have that 15,000 sq. ft. lot, on a cul-de-sac in a nice neighborhood. Lots that size are almost unheard of in most metro areas. We relocated earlier this year, 10,000 is about what weāre looking for now. That seems about right for a decent sized house.
Well? Septic? Propane? No thanks. I fix cars all day long. Iād rather watch my son play baseball or my daughter do gymnastics on weekends than worry about the leach field or whether the pump will freeze.
Hi, could you please redirect this discussion to car topics please? I waited to say something after @kmccune noted it wasnāt on topic, but it seems to be staying outside our subject area. Thank you.
I mow two acres. The rest is fields and woods.
Well? Septic? Propane? No thanks. I fix cars all day long. Iād rather watch my son play baseball or my daughter do gymnastics on weekends than worry about the leach field or whether the pump will freeze.
I also have a day job and spend my free hours with family. Just how much time do you think this stuff takes? Pump freeze? Itās 200 ft down in a well and the piping is 10ft. Nothing is going to freeze even at 30 below. Worrying about a leach field. Nope. Just donāt flush or pour anything down that messes it up. The people that pump it maybe every 10 years clean the filters for me. I donāt do anything unless someone plugs it up. Propane? They come fill it twice a year. Oil, maybe once a month in the winter. I do my own furnace maintenance in the spring, it takes an hour. Someone has planted this significantly negative view of what it takes to support these systems in your head.
I spend my free time working/tinkering on cars and other motorized transport (among other hobbies)ā¦
Well, I can just imagine the guy next door changing the oil and antifreeze in his car and dumping it down the drain into the shared leach field in the housing development. Then somehow his problems become my problems.
Iām just basing my opinion on my experience. Evergreen trees grow tall here in the Pacific Northwest, and first couple of windstorms bring fallen power lines and power outages. Last thing I want after a day of fixing cars is to not be able to take a shower because my electric well pump isnāt working.
Last month we drove up to spend a long weekend with some good friends who live in a nice home. While we were there the septic alarm went off. Apparently 8 people in the house instead of 4 meant that the septic system needed to pump the effluent up the hill to the drain field more often. Resetting the pump timer solved the problem, but yet one more thing to think about and to break.
My earliest memories of a septic system involved not being able to flush toilet paper, but thatās a different story altogetherā¦
Yeah, itās all relative. Out here, the oaks grow tall. Power outages happen occasionally. Most people own generators. I can run everything on my own power generation if I have to.
My last house had city water. Interestingly enough, my only period of water interruption was then when a city water line broke and we were without water for more than a week!
Leach fields are independent. Mine is mine. My septic is completely gravity fed, no lift or effluent pumps to contend with.
I stand aloneā¦ 